All Posts In » Mass Effect 2

Say hello to your new FemShep. That is, if Facebook users get their way. BioWare has just opened up a way to vote for the official female representation in the game. Once you “like” Mass Effect 2, you can look at this album and decide which of the female Shepards you like most. The winner will be the official FemShep portrayed in marketing materials. Right now, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed version you see here is in the lead. I’d almost hope for something a little different…or at least something that doesn’t look like Samus Aran with a new haircut. I’m personally a big fan of #4. Which one is your favorite? Follow

BioWare’s Mass Effect 3 won’t be seeing the light this holiday season after all. I mean, come on — like this wasn’t completely expected. How easy is it to stick to a projected release date when you decide the date a year in advance. You just knew something was going to come up. In this case, that something is “making sure Mass Effect 3 is the biggest, boldest and best game in the series, ensuring that it exceeds everyone’s expectations.” Well, according to the series’ Executive Producer, Casey Hudson. He also promised the game within the first three months of 2012 (that’s Q1, if you were wondering). Does this, like, totally ruin your holiday plans? I personally don’t have much of a stake in it since I have yet to experience enough of the series to make this a life-ruining announcement, but I’m sure that a few of you are

We’re back down to two-thirds AGAIN, so Tiffany and Elizabeth cover the week’s best news along with the question of the week, what we’ve been playing (yes, Portal 2 is in there), and more. Full show notes are below the player. Download the file here. The question of the week: What game excited us the most, but ended up being the biggest letdown for us? (Thanks, Brian!) The critics and fans are disagreeing a little bit about Portal 2. What’s up with that? Revisiting Kinect in Netflix — it’s no Minority Report, that’s for sure. The ESRB is using robots to rate downloadable titles. Basically. No one’s going to abuse that, ever. Someone at the New York Times seems to think that gamers falling in love in MMOs is some odd phenomenon, because really. Like gamers are ever going to find love IRL. And hey! The PSN is down again.

Rating: M (for Mature) Publisher:Electronic Arts Developer: Bioware Release Date: January 28, 2011 (PS3) RENT Mass Effect 2 was released for Xbox 360 and PC back in the beginning of 2010. It is getting pretty tired that it takes games like this another whole year to come out on the PS3. Why they have to continue with the annoying exclusivity rights and other delays that make PS3 releases take forever is beyond me. The focus should be on the consumer experience, and that would mean good customer service. If we don’t have a game for a year, then that is literally not serving the customer. That may all be in the past if Mass Effect 3 which is said to be dropping this fall, becomes cross platform. This game had the distinction of winning several Game of the Year Awards, which did not make not getting it on time any

Okay, not everyone is really digging BioWare’s Dragon Age II that much. Our own editor @Cherithe, who loves Dragon Age: Origins more than anyone I’ve ever known, wasn’t even that enthused by it. (And for completely understandable reasons.) But hey! If you activated your copy online, you’re halfway to getting a PC copy of a game that most people DID love — Mass Effect 2. Sure, it’s a year old, and it lacks DLC (including the Cerberus Network), but at least it made it onto some Game of the Year lists. (If I had to guess, DAII might not get that sort of love.) The offer only lasts until April 30, so the two-for-one price doesn’t have that much longer to go. Here’s the full list of redemption instructions: To qualify and get your Mass Effect 2 PC download code, please follow these steps before April 30, 2011 at 11:59pm

BioWare announced today that the final piece of DLC for Mass Effect 2, “Arrival,” will be available for download on PCs, Xbox 360 systems and the PlayStation 3 on March 29, over a year since the game’s launch. The cost? 560 Microsoft or BioWare Points, or if you’re into a monetary system that actually makes sense – $6.99 on PSN. In Mass Effect: Arrival, Commander Shepard is sent to the edge of the galaxy to rescue an undercover operative who may have evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion that has been looming since the very beginning of the series. Returning and playing a prominent role in Mass Effect: Arrival is fan favorite Admiral Hackett, who is voiced by legendary science-fiction actor Lance Henriksen (Alien, Terminator). “All year, we have been extremely honored and humbled by the reception we have received for Mass Effect 2 from players around the world, including

BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 took home the biggest award at last night’s British Academy Video Games Awards as the best game. The voters obviously loved the title, calling it a “combined achievement of technology, art, design [and] audio… a beautiful complete gaming experience.” Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain took home three awards, however – the BAFTAs for Original Music, Technical Innovation and Story. The only publicly-voted award of the night, the GAME Award, went to Call of Duty: Black Ops. This marks the third consecutive Call of Duty win in this category. Other winners include Kinect Sports, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and a ton(ne) more. See the complete list at the BAFTAs site. Follow

At last night’s Game Developers Choice Awards at GDC in San Francisco, Rockstar San Diego’s Red Dead Redemption was clearly the big winner, bringing home four awards, including Game of the Year. Sandbox title Minecraft was also quite successful, taking home three awards during the GDCA. Earlier in the day, Minecraft also won the grand prize at the Independent Games Festival Awards, making it the first title recognized by both awards committees during the same year. Special awards were also presented to Peter Molyneux, Tim Brengle and Ian McKenzie and Yu Suzuki. A full list of award recipients is below. Game of the Year Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego) Best Writing Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) Best Game Design Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego) Best Debut Game Minecraft (Mojang) Best Handheld Game Cut the Rope (ZeptoLab) Best Technology Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego) Innovation Award Minecraft (Mojang) Best

At last night’s 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in Las Vegas, Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption managed to ride off with five awards. However, the Game of the Year wasn’t the sandbox Western – that went to Bioware’s Mass Effect 2. Casual craze Angry Birds flew home with the Casual Game of the Year award. Also, “The Doctors” behind Bioware, Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, were inducted into the Hall of Fame, with Bing Gordon making it home with a Lifetime Achievement award. I’ll stop with the running commentary and just give you a list to pore over. Game of the Year Mass Effect 2 Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: BioWare Creative Director: Casey Hudson Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction Red Dead Redemption Publisher: Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar San Diego Lead Designer: Christian Cantamessa Casual Game of the Year Angry Birds Publisher: Chillingo Developer: Rovio Executive Producers: Niklas Hed, Mikael

There is a Demo for Mass Effect 2 available in the Playstation Store today. Previously the franchise was exclusive to the Microsoft formats on PC and Xbox 360. Now PlayStation 3 gamers can also try the the new updated game engine used for Mass Effect 3. Then all the DLC that had all ready arrived on the Xbox 360 and PC is included as well. They also have an interactive comic on there to give the back story. The demo will include the introduction sequence, with Commander Shepard’s investigation of a planet whose inhabitants have disappeared. The first missions provides a set up for what is to come when the Mass Effect 2 PS3 version hits stores on January 21st. Follow